Former WCC campus site receives new look, purpose
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on July 13, 2007 1:45 PM
Demolition is complete on the project to raze the original Wayne Community College administrative building on U.S. 70 bypass.
The property is now being converted into a grounds maintenance training area for clients of Eastern Region Vocational Rehabilitiation Facility, which owns the property.
A division of the state's Department of Health and Human Services, the facility works to provide job-ready skills for people with physical and mental disabilities.
Tim Goodson, director of the facility, said the cleanup, which began in the spring, has prompted additional efforts to improve the surrounding area. The 13.5-acre tract of land has been dormant for too long, he said.
The first order of business involves the newly minted field where the former WCC offices once stood, he said.
"That area is going to be developed into a training area for our landscaping consumers," he said Wednesday. "It's been graded, grass has been sown, so we don't have any erosion to the property."
A comprehensive plan will then be developed by a landscape architect, Goodson said.
While the demolition project was under way, passing motorists may not have been able to see it, but work was also going on behind the scenes. A row of buildings occupied by vocational rehab received a fresh coat of paint and discussion began on future use of the adjacent parking lot.
"For us it was routine maintenance, a good time for us to do it," Goodson said. "We cleaned up that building and the parking lot, which had not been used for years, we decided to do that as well."
In all likelihood, he said, the parking lot will also be turned into a training area.